Share This:

The PPI mis-selling scandal has plagued the British banks for a decade now. With billions of pounds repaid to customers and millions of people claiming PPI, it’s had a dramatic effect on the profitability — not to mention the reputation — of many banks.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is attempting to draw a line under the scandal by imposing a deadline for all PPI claims. All customers who wish to make a claim against their banks need to do so by 29th August 2019.

More people than ever are eligible to make a claim because of the Plevin rule. In 2014, a PPI case by Mrs Susan Plevin against Paragon Personal Finance was brought to the court because 71% of her PPI sale was a commission. She won her case, meaning others in a similar position are able to make a claim under the Plevin rule. If over 50% of a PPI sale was the commission, customers can make a claim — even if their previous claim was rejected.

The Plevin rule means that the banks are likely to pay out even more money in the next 18 months, adding yet more pressure onto a situation that has banks on the back foot.

Are PPI Claims Increasing?

Lloyds Banking Group is dealing with approximately 11,000 claims per week. As such, the bank has put another £2.4 billion aside for PPI claims. Lloyds is a prominent offender in the PPI debacle, but many of its peers will also be seeing increases in claims as the deadline approaches.

Since the FCA launched the campaign for the PPI deadline, they’ve reported a significant upturn in engagement to the dedicated PPI website and hotline.

The best claims management companies are receiving hundreds of claims per day, with this figure likely to increase as the cut-off date for making claims edges ever closer. In short: yes, the number of PPI claims being made is on the rise, and is only set to increase further still in the coming months.

How Much Have the Banks Repaid to Customers?

In the last three months of 2017, more than £300 million was repaid to consumers each month by the banks. This brings the total figure repaid (since 2011) to nearly £30 billion. By the time the PPI deadline arrives, this figure is likely to be £40 billion. This is bad news for the banks, although, many of them have seen profits gradually start to increase after the initial wave of payments and fines.

The scale of the mis-selling scandal means the banks should have learnt their lesson. But, there are other instances of copycat mis-selling scandals that suggest otherwise.

In 2015, it emerged that the banks were mis-selling packaged banks accounts (PBA). While these were not as widely mis-sold as PPI, thousands of people were sold PBA unwillingly. The banks have put aside millions of pounds to repay customers.

But, with £30 billion already repaid to customers for PPI claims and more money to be paid out in the next year-and-a-half, it’s unlikely that we’ll see another mis-selling scandal on this scale again.

How to Claim PPI

Consumers who believe that they were mis-sold PPI should make a claim as soon as possible — and there are a couple of straightforward ways to do so. You can contact the bank yourself and attempt to navigate your way through a claim individually, or enlist the help of a PPI claims company to ensure professional assistance throughout. But, it’s important to read all the terms and conditions before signing any contract with a claims company. Understand your rights and always look for a no win, no fee service.

Find old paperwork with evidence of PPI and then make your claim to the bank. If you can’t find your paperwork, a claims company or creditor should be able to uncover this for you. A claim can take up to six months, so start now and don’t miss out before the PPI deadline.

Share This:

The average college student has over $30,000 in student loans upon graduation. While that usually means a college degree which is going to open some doors professionally, and a higher income down the road, this is also a serious responsibility and a matter that deserves all your attention.

Just like paying off a balance on a credit card for a holiday that is long gone, paying off student loans 15 years after your graduate is not any fun. So there are options to tackle them as soon as possible and get started with your other life goals.

Whether you have federal, private student loans or both, the first step is to know how much you owe and how much you will have to repay each month. Your student loan provider should be able to send you a clear statement, with the monthly payments, the total owed, and the interest rate.

There are two ways to pay off your student loans quicker, which are by making overpayments, and reducing the interest rate on what you owe. If you manage to get a lower rate, and keep making the same payment, what you used to pay in interest will be applied to the principal of the loan, hence reducing the amount owed faster.

It is pretty easy to refinance student loans, a company like Credible allows you to compare prequalified refinancing offers for free, without damaging your credit score.

You just enter your personal details, which are not shared with potential lenders, then sort and compare the offers to find the one that is the best fit for you, and finally import your loan information automatically.
Once that is all entered, you get a final offer within a business day. There is no service fee, no origination fee, and more importantly, no prepayment penalty. Paying off your loans early can save you hundreds, if not thousands in interest, and can also drastically reduce the life of your loan.

Now that you have the best deal possible, how do you get rid of your loan as fast as you can? Well, it takes time and effort, but it is really worth it. If you are not convinced, ask a 40-something who is still paying off for college from 20 years ago how he feels.

The sooner you pay off your student loans, the sooner you can use that cash to invest, buy a house, save for retirement, or plan for other big money goals.

You were used to living like a student in college right? Roommates, a beater car, ramen noodles? Now that you are earning a full time salary at your graduate job, it is going to be very easy to succumb to lifestyle inflation. After all, you work hard, you deserve a treat once in a while. True, but in moderation. Because treating yourself at the expense of paying off your debt might mean having to work longer to pay for all this.

There are also apps that round up your purchases and allow you to send the balance to your student loans. Or you could switch to bi-weekly payments instead of monthly payments, resulting in 13 payments a year instead of 12. There are many options, and if you use an online calculator to find out how much all these little amounts would add up to, you might be surprised. They can make a big difference.

Share This:

When looking for a new broker, it is essential that you keep several factors in mind. It is irrelevant how much experience you have as a trader, these few points remain the same for experienced traders, professionals or new comers.

Regulation

It’s hard to believe, but there are still many unregulated forex brokers out there still. Different countries have different regulatory bodies. In Australia, you must look for a forex broker which is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. This is the regulatory body for Australia,

Regulation is important because it provides traders with an extra level of protection over their account. Regulation by the ASIC means that they money in your account is secure, that the broker is well capitalised, under strict supervision and that you have avenues to go down and resources should things go wrong.

ECN Broker vs Market Maker

Maker makers and ECN brokers have very different trading models. Generally speaking market maker forex brokers employ a business model whereby they trade against their clients. Therefore, when the client loses the broker wins and vice versa. This creates a glaring conflict of interest as the market maker forex broker essentially need their clients to lose.

ECN brokers operate differently. They make their money from the cost of trading, usually a small commission is charged. This means that for ECN brokers it is almost irrelevant whether traders win or lose trades, these brokers are more interested in traders trading. With this in mind, you could argue that ECN brokers would actually prefer their clients to be winning traders, because this way they are more likely to stick around and continue trading.

Costs

Each time that you trade you will have to pay. This could be through commission charge or through the forex spread. With this in mind you may seem obvious to look at costs when choosing a broker. However, do also keep in mind it could be worth sacrificing a seemingly low-cost broker for increased reliability. For example, if a broker advertises low transaction costs, but then you find your trades are always being slipped on entry or exit then your broker could actually be more expensive than a broker which has slightly higher prices.

Platform

Online forex trading occurs via a broker’s platform; therefore a user-friendly trading platform is a must, in addition to stability. If the broker offers an MT4 account, then you are also onto a good thing. The MT4 platform is considered the standard in online trading platforms it is probably the most popular forex trading platform in the world; that many people can’t be wrong!

Other platforms, such as a mobile platform or even the MT4 mobile platform as well can be very useful if you know you will be checking trades whilst on the move.

Share This:

On January 10 2018, the Office of National Statistics reported a boom in the manufacturing Industry, attaining its highest output since February 2008. Moreover, after recording a seventh consecutive month of growth in November 2017, it is enjoying its fastest rate of expansion within the same period under consideration.

That is not all, for if the comments by Lee Hopley, chief economist at manufacturers’ organisation EEF are anything to go by, further growth is expected. She said – “Manufacturers’ expectations for the year ahead point to output and export growth being maintained through this year on the back of continuing support from a burgeoning global economy. This, together with an ongoing commitment from government to deliver on its industrial strategy, will be crucial in helping to propel the sector forward.” Good times seem to be ahead.

However, what changed? What are the reason for the boom experienced by the manufacturing sector in the last 10 years?

Two factors have contributed to this; they have been the main drivers –

Global growth

Weaker Currency

Global Growth

The boom in global growth is helping to drag along the UK manufacturing sector. With the Financial crisis behind us, the three powerhouses of global growth – the USA, China and Europe – performing strongly at the same time, customers doing well and technology demands are ever increasing, export has increased.

That has led to car exports, for instance, rising rapidly and manufacturers in the flow control industry such as Hopkinsons have experienced strong growth. This is helped by the production of partly finished goods bought by other firms to piece together finished products.

The rise in new orders has led to more exportation in the manufacturing sector while also leading to job creation. The exportation particularly has resulted in a closing of the trade deficit between UK and the rest of the world.

Weaker Currency

From this seemingly position of weakness has come an advantage. Following the Brexit referendum, there has been a fall in the value of the sterling. This has made UK exports more competitive and as a result has driven up the demand from the UK. With the pound weaker, export has boomed as overseas countries find the currency value more favourable. Companies have seen rising export requests from the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Another way the fall of the value of the pound is that it ironically increases the value of foreign earnings. A fall in pound means an increase in value of other currencies, so all exports and foreign investments will yield more dividends and profit.

A weaker pound increases local demand for domestic products as well. With the cost of importations increased, consumers are more inclined to buy UK manufactured goods. This is also a boost for small manufacturers.

There is every reason for the wave of optimism spreading in the UK manufacturing sector. Output has been on a steady upward climb for 10 years and the forecasts and importantly, factors for the increase, only further spell success for the sector.